Northrop Grumman Awarded $3.8 Billion for Minuteman III ICBM Ground subsystems

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp has been awarded a $3,860,000,000 contract for Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ground subsystems support.

This contract provides for sustaining engineering, maintenance engineering, test and assessment, modification of systems and equipment, software maintenance, developmental engineering, production engineering, repair and procurement, a US DoD release said July 7.

The work is expected to be completed July 6, 2039.

The LGM-30G Minuteman III is a three-stage, solid-fueled, intercontinental-range ballistic missile. The Minuteman III is the sole land-based component of the U.S. nuclear triad.

The United States usually conducts two or more tests of the Minuteman III each year to ensure the arsenal is functioning and reliable. It currently has an estimated 440 missiles in its arsenal, according to missilethreat.csis.org.

A Northrop Grumman release later said that it has been awarded a $306 million five-year base contract from the U.S. Air Force to continue its role as the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Ground Subsystems Support Contractor (GSSC). This competitive award has a potential ceiling of $3.86 billion over 18 years.

Said Greg Manuel, sector vice president and general manager, strategic deterrent systems division, Northrop Grumman. “Our team is using the latest in digital engineering and innovation to keep today’s system reliable, safe and secure while positioning the Air Force for a smooth transition to the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) system over the next couple decades.”

As prime contractor on GSSC since 2015, Northrop Grumman will continue to provide engineering and field services to sustain Minuteman III, the world’s oldest deployed strategic ballistic missile system, through the end of its service life later next decade.